How to apply
Departmental Requirements
听
Students wishing to receive consideration for FALL (September) Admission for the Clinical Psychology program should apply by听November 15th; the deadlines for the Experimental and Neuroscience programs is听December 1st;听we do not offer admissions for any other terms (i.e. we have no winter or summer program start dates).
The Department of Psychology and Neuroscience is dedicated to building and sustaining a diverse, equitable, and inclusive working and learning environment. We specifically welcome applications from Black, Indigenous, and racially visible persons, individuals living with a disability, and individuals who identify as a sexual and/or gender minority. The Department of Psychology and Neuroscience continues to make efforts to eliminate barriers for diverse applicants, as has been demonstrated by removal of the Graduate Record Exam requirement, the initiation of a unique bursary for applicants from any of the above-mentioned groups, and ongoing collaboration with administration on improving the accessibility of our departmental space.听
Psychology and Neuroscience
Graduate programs are designed as "apprenticeship" programs in which students work closely with a faculty member who has agreed to supervise their research. Emphasis is placed on interdisciplinary research, scholarship and independent thinking rather than on course work.
Experimental Stream
Candidates for the Master's program in Psychology must have an honours degree or equivalent in Psychology; candidates for the PhD program must have a Master's degree in the area of graduate work. Experimental Psychology is the study of human and animal behaviour and the neural mechanisms controlling this behaviour. As a science, psychology strives to learn information about behaviour through observation and experimentation.
Neuroscience Stream
Candidates for the MSc program in Psychology/Neuroscience must have an honours degree or equivalent in the area of graduate work; candidates for the PhD program must have a Master's degree in the area of graduate work. Neuroscience integrates psychology, cell biology, genetics, biochemistry, physiology, anatomy and other branches of the life sciences into a single discipline concerned with the structure and function of the brain. Neuroscience is exceptionally well represented at Dal; faculty members study the nervous system at molecular, cellular, and behavioural levels.
Clinical Psychology
Candidates for the PhD program in Clinical Psychology must have an honours degree or equivalent in Psychology. Students who have completed additional degrees or work at the graduate level may be eligible for advanced standing within the program.听 Please refer to our听听[PDF 107 KB] for more information. The Clinical Program is founded on a scientist-practitioner training model and is committed to prioritizing equity, diversity, and inclusion in all components of training. Students are also provided with the opportunity to expand their learning into areas of interest (e.g., child psychology, adult psychology, neuropsychology, addictions, health psychology).
The Department of Psychology and Neuroscience is dedicated to building and sustaining a diverse, equitable, and inclusive working and learning environment. We specifically welcome applications from Black, Indigenous, and racially visible persons, individuals living with a disability, and individuals who identify as a sexual and/or gender minority. The Department of Psychology and Neuroscience continues to make efforts to eliminate barriers for diverse applicants, as has been demonstrated by removal of the Graduate Record Exam requirement, the initiation of a unique bursary for applicants from any of the above-mentioned groups, and ongoing collaboration with administration on improving the accessibility of our departmental space.
General admission requirements
The Faculty of Graduate Studies sets the听minimum admission standards听that are required for entry into graduate programs. Individual departments may require additional qualifications of their candidates, and enrolment limitations usually mean that successful applicants possess qualifications that considerably exceed the minimum requirements.听For more information on additional qualifications please see the program you are applying to on the graduate program page.
Common admission criteria
Department GPA requirements
Psychology GPA minimum 3.3.
**All applicants are expected to apply for scholarships. Please see below for scholarship information.
Prospective students applying for a position in one of our graduate programs must contact potential supervisors and submit:
Application process
听
Items 1 and 2 go to the Registrar's office. Do not send them to the Department.
Please add your last name and first initial to any filenames听that you send to gradprog@dal.ca or Psychology.Grad.Program@dal.ca for ease of filing the information into your file. Please note these are the same email account, one is an alias of the other.听Please send all the files in one email.
Please note all official items received will be posted to your online application portal. Please do not email asking if we have received items as this takes away from the time the secretary has to process said items. Please only email if you have concerns about something not received yet听after December 1st.
If you applied last year we still have your file and can pull out some items (ie. transcripts) if you request us to, so you don't have to send them again.
Scholarship Information
Faculty of Graduate Studies has information on their website听about scholarship applications and procedures.
Harmonized Scholarship Process
The Deadline for the Harmonized Scholarship application is as follows
Dec. 1st deadline听(opt-in form): If you are linking and reusing your Tri-council Masters application to your Harmonized Application.
Jan. 16th听4 p.m. AT deadline (application form):听If you DID NOT opt-in to the Tri-council Masters scholarship and instead are direct applying to the Harmonized scholarship you can change anything up to this date.